They fell by a season-high 44 points in Portland on Feb. 26. They lost to the lottery-bound Celtics on March 7. And Saturday, they blew a double-digit fourth-quarter lead in Washington.

Each was a crushing loss, the kind that could have shaken the Nets’ confidence and threatened to derail the turnaround which started with the New Year. Instead, the Nets answered each one with an emphatic, double-digit win.

"It shows resilience," Deron Williams said. "It’s just that time of the year where you lose one, you don’t want to lose another one — you don’t want to get into a losing streak, you want to bounce back and try to get back on a winning track."

In the first two months of the season, any loss spelled disaster for the Nets. In November and December alone, they had six separate stretches in which they lost two games or more consecutively — it’s no wonder their record sat a dismal 10-21 on New Year’s Day.

But since Jan. 1, the Nets have only gone on a losing streak once: a three-game downer at the end of January — when they lost to Toronto, Oklahoma City and Indiana. Two of those losses were by a point.

"We’re growing as a team," Paul Pierce said. "We’re having short memories about these games. We’re not getting into long funks. … For the most part, in the second half of the season, we’ve bounced back nicely after losses and we’ve got to continue to do that."

The Nets have responded to embarrassment particularly well. They were crushed by the Thunder, 120-95, at Barclays Center on Jan. 31, the middle game of that three-game losing streak. Since then, the Nets haven’t lost at home.

But there is more work to be done.

"The other thing we have to turn around is just being a better road team finishing out the season," Pierce said. "As far as not losing consecutive games, or two, three in a row games, we’ve taken care of that, so now we have to do a better job on the road."

The Nets are 21-11 at Barclays Center, but only 13-20 in other arenas. Eight of the Nets’ final 17 games are away.

BRIEFS: Last week, Pierce said this when asked about Phil Jackson joining the Knicks as team president: "I don’t talk about the Knicks. No Knicks questions. Ever." Tuesday, about an hour after Jackson was introduced at the Garden, Pierce held true to his word. When asked about Jackson’s impact on the Knicks/Nets rivalry, Pierce winked and walked away, ending his interview session. … Andrei Kirilenko missed Tuesday’s practice with a bruised left big toe. He suffered the injury in Monday’s win over the Suns. Coach Jason Kidd said Kirilenko is a game-time decision against the Bobcats tonight.